Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6

[davebem]

Ive always loved Alfas, and had a big soft spot for the 156. For a car that was designed by Walter De Silva (of Audi/VW fame) in the mid to late 90s it had very clean lines, a unique look and has aged really well. I like my saloons and always considered the 156 to be the perfect compact saloon size and shape, more modern 'compact' saloons are getting too big! These cars can be had for as little as £100 ranging up to £2000 for a well sorted 2.5 V6 or up to £12000 for a 3.2 GTA!! I think they have hit rock bottom although some are starting to get the right type of Alfisti owners and it wont be long before it becomes an emerging future classic. For a 2nd car that would be replacing a Clio172 I didnt want to spend too much in the outset, the car was going to be a weekend/trackday car and maybe used for the odd roadtrip. I have a diesel 159 as a daily and the use of my wifes Fiat 500 too.

After lots of searching I found the best condition 2.5 V6 available for sale, this one happened to be the top of the range Veloce model with sports suspension, side skirts, carbon dash and full leather etc. The garage specialised in performance cars and run by 2 petrolheads. They had changed the oil, filters, cambelt, waterpump, radiator and overhauled the brakes.

On the test drive, I was completely bowled over by the throttle response, progressive brakes, smooth clutch feel and smooth direct gear change. The engine note of the Busso V6 persuaded me to hand over the cash without really thinking straight at all!!

Plans so far are:
- Prepare for track day use but on the whole keep it fairly standard for now - bleed brakes, matching tyres.
- Remove V6 badges on wings and remove rear spoiler.
- Rust proofing the floor, subframe and checking brake lines for corrosion.

Edited by davebem on Friday 29th January 10:33

[davebem]

After a few spirited runs shortly after purchasing, one day I was driving down the crest of a country lane and heard a horrible snapping noise, in the rear view mirror smoke was pouring out the back and something was dragging - bugger. The car had dropped on the O/S rear so something had broken on the suspension, the inside of the tyre was rubbing on the bottom of the suspension cup and there was melted rubber everywhere. When I removed the wheel (at the side of the road), the bottom spring cup had collapsed on the suspension strut, so the bottom of the spring and cup were resting on the anti roll bar mounting. Luckily the space saver spare wheel cleared the broken cup, so I managed to limp it home.

It appears that the bottom cup on the strut has a drainage hole so water doesnt sit in it. However the spring is sat in a rubber cushion that blocks the drainage hole. I ordered a new pair of Monroe shocks, as my car had the 'sport' suspension I had trouble finding the right part, but luckily found them on Amazon (of all places) for a good price. I replaced the rear anti roll bar droplinks for uprated ones too. The inside of the tyre that was damaged was an odd non matching budget one I was going to replace anyway so that was changed for a matching Michelin.

A word of warning to all 147, 156 and GT owners, it appears this is a very common problem, I strongly advise on cars over 10 years old to check the condition of the lower spring cups for severe rust where the cup is welded to the main body of the shock.



While the rear was all jacked up, I checked the rest of the suspension and waxoiled the spare wheel well and areas around the exhaust mounts that had some minor suface rust. There was no serious rust on the rear or body at all.

The 156 has a very interesting rear suspension setup which give some passive steering. There are 4 aluminium transverse arms attached to an aluminium rear subframe, there is then a steel stabilizer arm each side, all supported by full size macpherson type strut, unfortunatly it looked like some ape had jacked the car on one of these arms as one was bent so it was replaced.

Summary of work so far:
- Brake and clutch bleed.
- New pair of rear shocks and droplinks
- New suspension arm
- New matching rear tyre.
- Areas underneath that had surface rust were trated with bilthamber then waxoiled. Bottom of front wings and where wings attach to bumper protected, and brake lines all checked and ok. No major rust found.

Edited by davebem on Friday 29th January 11:18

Edited by davebem on Friday 29th January 11:19

[davebem]

I did my first track day at Mallory park in it.

It was very wet and if you know Mallory, there can be a lot of standing water on the long curve around gerrards and the esses. Despite this the Alfa handled very well, there is enough feedback through the wheel to almost gauge what is about to happen, before it happens.. The typical quick Alfa steering rack helps position the car exactly where you want it. The car doesnt feel as nose heavy as I thought it would, however understeer was a bit of a problem especially under power in 3rd on the long curve around gerrards. Wheelspin was also an issue in 2nd coming out of the chicane. But saying that I held my own and in the 2nd half of the day had some hard driving and abuse. The brake pads were suffering and stinking the cabin out a little, the garage probably put budget ones in. The engine note and power delivery is sublime and the gear ratios on the 2.5 are excellent and suited to track use (ive heard putting the 2.5 box on the 3.2 creates an absolute animal).

After a while the engine temp was getting a little hot for my liking, Despite a lot of hard driving, Ive never owned a car where the temp gauge has gone over the middle. It was 2/3rds way round the gauge but still away from red, the fans were kicking in at low and high speeds so wasnt too worried. The 2.5 has a oil/coolant heat exchange cooler, but the 3.0 and 3.2s have a proper air cooled oil cooler with ducted air from the grill next to the foglights, I will investigate fitting one.

On the whole it was a very enjoyable day and I was very impressed with the little Alfa. My praise for the car was short lived though, when I got home and turned onto my drive the diff exploded but in a weird twist and true Alfa fashion, it got me home!!

Plans over this winter:
- Fit a limited slip Alfa/Quaife Q2 ATB Diff - to replace blown one and help immensly with getting the power down in 2nd.
- Inspect/replace any worn front suspension components.
- Replace outer driveshaft gaitors as I noticed they were badly perished.
- Investigate ways to keep engine temps down, possibly fit improved oil cooler.
- Fit a decent pair of front brake pads.

Edited by davebem on Friday 29th January 12:43

[davebem]

Thanks for the comments, the spoiler is very marmite. It does weigh a lot and spoils the sloping rear lines of the car, but on the other hand from certain angles it looks pretty cool.

This was the state of the diff:

The small bevel gear had broke into 3, a large piece was jammed sticking halfway out of the diff and scored the inside of the diff casing. Im very lucky it went on my drive as after reading lots of threads on alfaowner/alfa book, they have a habit of punching holes in the diff casing and can destroy a gearbox. The magnet in the bottom of the diff casing caught all the small bits of metal.

[davebem]

This brings me on to the current situation, while the subframe was off I decided to replace the upper and lower wishbones, I fitted new driveshaft gaitors and droplinks, the quaife ATB diff is now fitted and fingers crossed its going in for its MOT tommorow.

I also found a rusty bracket behind the bumper which supports the power steering cooler, horns and undertray. Alfa dealership wanted £75, but I found one on the German eBay for €20!! I also took the oppurtunity to complete the rust proofing, getting into the suspension turrents and around the front wheel arches and did the subframe which was actually in remarkable condition.

[davebem]

^ If your near leicestershire give me a shout.

Passed MOT and took for first proper drive since fitting the quaife atb diff, its made an amazing difference and I would highly recommend one, the grip and acceleration has vastly improved in 1st and 2nd gears. As they can be fully supplied and fitted for as low as £700 or around £500 if you fit yourself as I did.

I will report back with more detail following another track day.

Further plans:
-Still need to investigate a better oil cooler possibly using the 3.0/3.2 setup.
-Invest in trackday wheels/tyres and better brakes.

[davebem]

Funny you should mention the temp issue as I was investigating that yesterday. I cant replicate the issue so much anymore, the temp stables at 90 when moving, and goes slightly over 90 when sitting in traffic. Ive plugged in MES to monitor it and the highest it got to was 99. Both fans kick in at low speed at 98 and go off at 95. Ive since learnt that the temp gauge does give a realtime figure unlike many other cars that sort of round it up when its around 90.

The radiator and coolant is new, the thermostat and waterpump were replaced approx 6 months ago by the garage that had it.

Is this all normal?

Edited by davebem on Monday 8th February 17:10

[davebem]

Minor update: A knocking noise developed from the front suspension, on inspection I found the longer inner bolt on the rear lower wishbone bush had been overtightened and it had actually stipped the threads of the alloy block on the mount. I could turn the bolt by hand..whoops! this must have been my own doing when I fitted the new lower wishbones. For now I have fitted longer high tensile 90mm M10 bolts and tightened them with a nut and washer over the top of the mount.

Summary of work completed:
- Brake and clutch bleed.
- New pair of rear shocks and droplinks
- New suspension rear arm
- New matching rear tyre.
- Areas underneath that had surface rust were trated with bilthamber then waxoiled. Bottom of front wings and where wings attach to bumper protected, and brake lines all checked and ok. No major rust found.
- New bumper/horn bracket fitted.
- Driveshaft gaitors and hub nut replaced.
- Quaife Q2 ATB Diff fitted along with driveshaft seals.
- New front wishbones and droplinks

The car is now absolutely perfect, its completly standard (apart from the diff). This will be a hard year for the car, I have some track days booked and Im thinking of doing the ring in the spring.

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 17th February 20:05

[davebem]

I did Donington yesterday, the weather was so varied, wind, rain, sleet, sunshine, we had it all. When I arrived having driven there I started to feel a bit left out as I didnt have a motorhome and trailer, there was lots of hardcore trackdayers and some racing teams taking part too getting some practise in. The whole day went without a hitch and I really enjoyed it. I really got to know the car and learn the track, the sound of the V6 down the straights was addictive. I never did quite figure out the best line to take around coppice though. Handling was good, understeer was an issue coming out of Mcleans curve in the wet, but it was easy to control and I learnt to hit the armco and then it would just bite in and grip. The Quaife LSD has made an immense difference, I had no wheelspin or lack of grip issues accelerating. In the afternoon when it dried up I noticed how much the car leans into the bends. Im still running the standard suspension so added to the todo list is stiffer antiroll bar and stiffer spring setup. I used just over £100 of petrol, but my tyres and brakes were still ok, got the climate set and settled in for the 40 min journey home. Oh and the engine temp issue hasnt re-occurred :-)

I shared a garage with this little newly built beast. Ill post up some better pics later.

Edited by davebem on Thursday 3rd March 20:01

[davebem]

A couple of pics from Donington, ive got a video with good engine sound ill try and get that uploaded at some point.

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 9th March 13:40

[davebem]

Minor update, each night this week I have been cleaning and painting the engine bay to tidy it up. Got no plans over Easter, although I have got to change my brake pads on my daily 159.

[davebem]

I would love to find a cheap 3.2 GT to repair, I always thought they were bigger than the 156 but from your pic they look a lot shorter? Nice to see a similar 156, Im still on the lookout for a non-spoiler bootlid.

Ive lifted the carpets and the floorpan on my 156 is completely mint which seams to be very rare. Im actually condidering buying a rough 2.0 twinny and converting that to hardcore track use, then keeping the V6 mint for Sunday drives and road trips!!

Edited by davebem on Tuesday 5th April 19:43

[davebem]

Contrary to the use of being mainly a track day and fun weekend car so far, I was browsing ebay one night (sober...honest) looking for a door handle and electric window switch and ended up buying a whole bargain red leather momo interior. There is nothing wrong with my black interior although I had stripped the bench out to see how much it all weighed (which wasnt a lot). The inside is now an even better place to be, the red leather has aged really well with some nice wrinkles and has a nice smell. The crappy pics dont do it much justice. Luckily the seller threw in a door handle and electric window switch I needed too!







If anyone needs a mint black leather interior, let me know. £90 collected.

Edited by davebem on Saturday 30th April 15:51

[davebem]

A few serial Alfa owners have commented the 2.5 is more characterful. I havent tried a 3.2, it must be an animal as the 2.5 is quick enough.. Maybe the 3.0 is the best allrounder?

[davebem]

^That GTA is the tits. Ive been driving the car on and off the last few weeks, had a great drive to the east coast and back. Was going to do Rockingham trackday but had to change plans at the last minute, will get my act together and book something at the end of June.

The coolant tank was leaking slightly, and looked a mess inside so ordered a new Birth one.

On draining the coolant I discovered that a small amount of oil was mixed with it, and there was a build of gunk in the tank, a quick search on the Alfa forums and the general consensus is 'all the V6s do that'. Ive fully flushed the system and put in fresh coolant (all 9 litres of it!) and will monitor it.

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 15th June 21:33

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 15th June 21:34

[davebem]

On a few really great runs in the warmer weather the coolant temp issues I had earlier returned, where it sits at just over 90 (up to 99) whilst on move but with hard driving. Maybe its an OCD of mine, but Im refusing to believe the general Alfisti view this is normal.

I put on hold the 3.0/3.2 air-oil cooler conversion idea mentioned in an earlier update, Ive made a note of what needs to be done:
- Relocation of the power steering cooler to left hand side - easy
- Removing branch from near the thermostat housing to heat exchanger - easy
- Blank return hole from heat exchanger to block - easy
- Fitting of pipes from rear engine to front right hand side and mounting of oil cooler - easy
- and crucially replacing the take off plate at the back of the engine behind the oil filter. Ive had a good look at this and think the engine will need to come out, some of the bolts are not reachable, and the take off plate doubles up as the mid-driveshaft mounting!



After more research I found that the 3.2 GTA has a thicker superior radiator, with a more efficient fin design with twice as many rows (approx 40). The 2.5 probably needs this superior radiator more than the 3.2, because the coolant also has to cool the oil as shown above. I tried to source one and can now understand why many 3.2 owners fit the 2.5 rad as the latter is more easily available and cheaper. The original Valeo part which was out of stock in most places and local fiat/alfa dealer was quoting around £380!! I found 1 cheaper alternative from a company called NRF for a good price at less than half that on eBay and took the risk (assuming this was the only available pattern part). Possibly by sheer luck this turned up in a Valeo box, and the new radiator had Valeo stamped onto it with genuine part numbers!! So I drained the coolant (again) and got it fitted.



Im not sure what Alfa were thinking when they designed the cooling fan assembly, the part looks like it may have been borrowed from a Sherman tank. Its too heavy and over engineered, a lot of unnessary weight in the nose here, and the twin fan motors are huge! Something to consider as there are many aftermarket lighter/plastic fans available.

Finally, my pads were worn from a couple of track days and hard use. I took advantage of the autolusso sale and ordered some PFC Carbon metallic pads. I was concerned when they came as they don’t appear to have as much friction material on as the standard pads (Id say approx 20% less thickness and slightly less area coverage on the pad too!!)
Anyway (somehow) the PFC pads have vastly improved stopping power, you can really feel them dig in on high speed braking and they have improved pedal feel somewhat. They also produce less dust and work well from cold.



Nearly forgot to mention..the superior radiator has worked, had a long run down to Wellingborough and the temps didn’t go over 90 once, success!!

The last item on my shopping list is sourcing a stiffer rear anti roll bar, then Im mostly done, Promise!!

Edited by davebem on Tuesday 5th July 20:58

[davebem]

It is a strange problem and all too common by the looks of it, I beleive the earlier 2.5s had copper radiators which may have been more efficient? The car will have a hard life, but will be maitained regardless of cost, its more a reliability modification and peace of mind for me, I just wish I took a picture of the rads side by side!!

[davebem]

Most 156s seem to have bouncy castle suspension, the sport pack 3s and later Veloces like mine had 'sport suspension' which is slightly lower and has different alignment settings. I actually like the ride and handling! (hence why I havnt done much to the suspension yet), its very comfortable and copes with undulating roads very well. Big bumps are soaked up, and all wheels are kept planted firmly on the ground at all times, the handling is still precise and when throwing it into a corner feels like a hot hatch, except under power it does understeer but out of the corner there is no torque steer. On the odd occasion in wet there I have felt what is best described as a drifting sensation as the rear kind of follows itself round a tight corner. Im at a crossroads now, as I don’t want to loose this nice road feel and character, but if I continue with track use, it really needs stiffening and roll reducing from the back which will hopefully reduce the understeer.

The gear change, clutch feel and steering feel are all still spot on, infact it has made me realise that this puts most modern cars to shame in this area (my 159 included). Like my previous clio172 the 156 is one of those rare cars where you can just take it for a drive for no reason and enjoy the experience for what it is, (whilst forgetting iffy interior build quality and mpg).

[davebem]

Made a trip over to National Alfa Day today.

[davebem]

I finally tracked down a stiffer rear anti roll bar, after speaking to a few experienced with 156s this should reduce the understeer somewhat, I will feedback on this later.

The eibach set retails at £350, and the ultra racing standalone rear is £180. I was lucky to find the no longer in production Whiteline roll bar 2nd hand via ebay for a third of that, the Whiteline one looks identical to the Eibach.

The standard Alfa 156 2.5 rear roll bar is 14mm
Summary of otions for 156:
The GTA one is 17mm
The eibach/whiteline is 18mm
Ultra racing is 19mm

Im in the process of rubbing it down, coating in bilt hamber rust proofer, then a quick re-spray before its fitted to the uprated droplinks I fitted earlier.

Side by side with original

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 17th August 20:07

Edited by davebem on Wednesday 17th August 21:31